San Francisco Frontiers - Sirens wail and families cry at Myanmar disaster site

"She is such a good daughter," said the 40-year-old.

The last time she saw Chit Yamin Pyae, she told AFP in tears, "she paid homage to me and her father by touching her forehead to my feet".

The 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck at 12:51:02 (0621 GMT) on Friday, rocking the earth, toppling some buildings and destroying others.

On Tuesday at precisely the same time, it was hearts that were ripped asunder as the nation fell silent to remember the dead.

A farmer in northern Shan state, Shwe Sin had been on a call with her 20-year-old daughter, an accountant at Sky Villa -- among the worst disaster sites in the city -- when the quake struck.

Her daughter called out to a friend: "Sister Sister! It is an earthquake! I am scared!"

"What happened? What happened, daughter?" her mother asked.

"I heard her voice but she didn't hear mine," Shwe Sin told AFP.

Minutes later the tremors reached her 140 kilometres (87 miles) away in the Shan town of Momeik, and the connection was cut.

The Sky Villa block was one of Mandalay's better housing options, with a generator offering 24-hour electricity -- a rarity in war-ravaged Myanmar even before Friday's quake -- as well as a gym and a swimming pool.

Those who could afford its creature comforts would choose to live there, said one onlooker.

For an unknown number -- and the staff who served them -- it has become their tomb.

- 11th floor escape -

Some sections collapsed completely, each storey pancaking down on to the next. In another area, the top six levels remained twisted and broken but standing on the remains of those below.

Zhu Zhu was with a friend on the 11th floor when the quake hit.

"I thought that was the day I would die," the 20-year-old student told AFP.

"I thought about my parents. I thought I was going to die soon and kept thinking about my mum and dad. It felt like the end for me."

She ran for the emergency exit and escaped through a hole in the wall.

"In the chaos, people collided with each other. As I was jumping and running through the rubble, the rest of the building collapsed, and many people were trapped underneath," she said.

"I was running blindly, not knowing where I was going. After a while, the dust cleared, and I realised the building had collapsed behind me."

Among those trapped was her friend Si Si, 26, who was like an older sister to her, Zhu Zhu said.

She has been keeping a vigil at the apartment block every day since the disaster, she said, arriving at 6:00 am and not leaving until after nightfall.

"I hoped she would survive for three days without food or water, but after four days, all I can do is wait for her body to be found. Her family is grieving, and there is no hope left," she said, wiping tears from her eyes.

"She was so happy before all of this happened. Now, I can't even imagine what she looks like. I don't want to imagine it."

- Share merit -

Missing posters printed on plastic sheets have begun to appear in the area around the site, sometimes held in place by bricks. In one, a man in blue gives a jaunty thumbs-up in the doorway of what looks like an office building.

In another, four images apparently from the same family show a middle-aged woman, a younger one and a toddler waving uncertainly at the camera.

"They have not yet been found at Sky Villa condo," reads the caption. "If you find them please contact these numbers."

In places, the smell of decaying corpses wafts from the debris.

A mechanical digger halfway up a pile of rubble pawed at the concrete, breaking it up.

Nearby a woman stood quietly, looking at the section where her younger brother lived on the third floor and was still inside.

"Please take my good deeds so you can pass to the next life," said her friend, sharing her accumulated merit in a Buddhist spiritual practice.

"Please don't share yet, he could still be alive," the woman replied.

L.Nguyen--SFF